On 1/06/2016 3:10 PM, Frank O'Connor wrote: > So you’d consider a demented 90 year old driving with no controls, > someone ill with a high fever, headache or delusions bought on by > same, someone going through a schizoid episode, a hyper aggressive > Double Y hormone man, a drunk or stoned individual, a frustrated down > and out going through a messy divorce, or even someone who’s late for > work ... as qualified to drive a car? You’d say that having > effectively no real controls about who gets behind what wheel at any > given time is preferable to automating our driving experience?
Frank, Only if the solution a) actually solves the problem of driving all vehicles under all conditions and b) doesn't introduce more problems than it solves. If you look at flying air planes, why are they not all fully automatic? Flying a plane is a far simpler problem. The reasons why planes haven't been fully automated may well apply to cars. And cars have their own, additional problems. I'd be far happier if the objective was to develop cars with an automatic mode that could be engaged under specific circumstances (like an advanced cruise control). Across the board, all cars being driverless seems a stretch too far. Too much Jetsons. > Bottom line, there are risks with both ‘systems’ … but the automated one is > more likely to be fine tuned and perfected much more easily. The one that > relies on humans, with all their inherent imperfections, will continue to > carry all the attendant risks. I’ve seen nothing in my life that indicates > that the human race will improve … but technology does demonstrably improve. Sometimes. Sometimes it makes things worse. And it can get worse faster. And changing technology can be much harder than changing human behaviour - given the right incentives. -- Regards brd Bernard Robertson-Dunn Sydney Australia email: b...@iimetro.com.au web: www.drbrd.com web: www.problemsfirst.com Blog: www.problemsfirst.com/blog _______________________________________________ Link mailing list Link@mailman.anu.edu.au http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
